A correspondence corner for not-so-famous lost words

Correspondence on not-so-famous lost words

Sally Charin hopes someone can identify a poem beginning: “admit impediments, accept alarms, and random incompatibilities….” She recalls the author’s being identified as a Radcliffe graduate of the 1930s.

More queries from the archives:
“The saved man goes to the zoo with his child on a Sunday afternoon.”
“He that keepeth the law becometh master of the intent thereof.”
“Oh, do not think because I make  / Arrogant wounded unkind stabs / At suffering prowling man /  That I’m not partisan to all the fumbles in his mind. Whence else these lines? For whose sake?”

 “I’ll pretend I’m teaching” (July-August). No citations have arrived, but Eve Menger and Carlota Dwyer noted the quotation’s similarity to a remark often attributed to Soviet workers: “They pretend to pay us, and we pretend to work.”

Send inquiries and answers to “Chapter and Verse,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138 or via e-mail to chapterandverse@harvardmag.com.

You might also like

How Adam Ehrlich Sachs Writes Absurd and Beautiful Fiction

The Gretel and the Great War author on how the Lampoon derailed his science career—and set him on a literary path.

The Year a Beat Poet Squatted at Harvard

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Tara Menon’s Debut Novel Combines Friendship, Grief, and Climate Disaster

The popular Harvard English professor published Under Water this spring.

Most popular

Harvard Weathers a Year of Turmoil

The federal government has launched unprecedented actions against the University. Here’s a guide.

Lafayette’s Unexpected Gift to George Washington: Pheasants

The two birds will be on display at Harvard this summer.

Mindfulness—the unconventional research of psychologist Ellen Langer

Psychologist Ellen Langer's unconventional research. Plus, read about applying mindfulness techniques to eating.

Explore More From Current Issue

A glowing bulb shape surrounded by colorful, swirling energy lines against a blue background.

Harvard researchers achieve medical breakthroughs in cancer therapy and infection control.

A smiling elderly man in glasses sits comfortably in a striped armchair.

Plus, veteran higher education leader Thomas Ehrlich reflects on university curricula for his 70th reunion

Colorful cartoon animals, including dogs, cows, rabbits, and a fence, on a pink background.

Inseparable cows, big dogs fostering a tiny kitten, and a show beagle’s second act